When you work out very often, you quickly get stuck in your habits. You have a certain routine that you perform regularly, and after a while, that routine is much less effective because your body gets used to the exercises you do. That’s the reason why I’m giving you some easy tips to improve your work out and make it more effective. 1. Combine your exercises. Combining exercises is a good way to increase the intensity of your training. Combining is possible with the same muscle groups (several back exercises one after another) or different muscle groups. An example of the last point is to do a leg exercise (leg press/squat) with a back exercise (lat pulldown/pull-ups), whereby you’ll change the exercise per set without taking a rest. These kind of exercises are also known by supersets (two exercises alternately) or giant sets (three or more exercises after each other). When you choose a combination of exercises for the same muscle group, you’ll have as an extra effect taking hold of a muscle group in different ways in a short time. Without rest, it’s possible to deplete all muscles and fiber out of that muscle group. When you choose to do different muscle groups after each other, you’ll force your heart to pump blood from one muscle group to another. Pumping harder means a strong heart, and a strong heart means a better endurance. One to two hours of intensive strength training is as equally beneficial for your lungs and heart as four hours of jogging. The combining of exercises could save you a lot of time, and it also looks interesting. 2. Drop set. Again, you don’t take any rest between your strength training sets. Instead of doing this you finish a set, lower the weight by a few pounds and start with the next set. After that, do it again. With this, your muscles are continuously challenged, and you’ll see results fast! 3. Circuit training This looks like the first tip, but it’s a bit different. Instead of alternating two exercises with each other, you’ll now follow a circuit of all exercises to be performed. Try to take minimal rest between the exercises. When you’ve done all exercises, take some rest (two or three minutes) before you go on with the second round of all exercises. Try it for yourself for a couple of days, and it will definitely improve your workouts!

Loosing Weight With today’s on-the-go lifestyle, we tend to eat quickly. Eating right gives us a healthy weight, a good mood and overall wellbeing. We surely are what we eat. While some specific foods or nutrients have been shown to have a beneficial effect on mood, it’s our overall pattern that is most important because sometimes it can be non-food related. Focusing on how we feel after eating. The more healthy food we eat, the better we feel after a meal. With a healthy life style we are filled with vitality and vibrant health. Ghrelin hormones that increase appetite are secreted every four hours. To maintain low levels of this hormone, it is necessary to follow a diet over periods of four hours. The secret is in certain foods rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients, mainly consisting of carotenoids, Omega 3s and flavonoids. Consuming 3 cups of tea daily helps to overcome leptin resistance. The tea is rich in catechins, flavonoids and polyphenols, all anti-inflammatory elements. Tea, whose effect on weight control is well-known, will help restore the role of leptin. Flaxseed is one of the richest dietary sources of omega-3 anti-inflammatory properties and a natural food source rich in polyphenolic substance which helps the liver to eliminate toxins and fats from the body. A good night sleep helps us maintaining our leptin appetite hormones at a good level, it’s a major factor of balance and healthy weight people. It’s also helpful to acknowledge and be aware of our thinking, being and living in the present moment. It’s very efficient to increase our mind and body awareness by listening to all the powerful messages that it sends us. Changing our habits one by one is better, one week at the time. An habit is a reflex and it becomes an automatic action that can be done without thinking. Once we will have taken a good habit, it will not be necessary to use our motivation, it will remain anchored to our subconscious effortlessly. Going outside for a walk or any other activities, whether in the morning, the lunch hour or in the evening, moving is a great way to lose weight, but also improves mood by increasing the energy level. Nourishing ourselves with an activity/passion is a good and healthy long-time occupation and it’s crucial for sustaining long-term positive habits. Watching a 5 minutes cardiac coherence on YouTube is a good relaxation method. When we breathe this way-of-life everyday, it becomes naturally part of ourselves. Together we can live better & healthier.

As we all know, vegetables are a paramount source of nutrition and vitamins to include in your diet. They reduce many chronic diseases including heart attacks and strokes and are important for keeping a fit and healthy body. Below are 5 vegetables that one should include in their diet: Broccoli – they are full of Vitamin K and C which provide a great source of fiber, folate and potassium. Vitamin K is essential for many proteins used for blood clotting while Vitamin C develops collagen used repairs cuts and heals wounds through the formation of body tissue. The fiber keeps the digestive system healthy whilst the folate allows for the necessary formation of new cells. Garlic – used through ancient civilisations due to its medicinal and health benefits. Garlic contains sulphur compounds called allicin that is formed when it is chopped or crushed and provides potent biological health effects through the digestive system. The vitamin C content in garlic can cause it to act as an anti-inflammatory and prevent against nasty viral and bacterial activities Garlic also has very few calories so is great against weight-loss and obesity. Zucchinis – Many people avoid zucchinis due to their lack of taste however they hold an abundance of goodness. They have many anti-oxidants which assist in weight loss and cholesterol reduction. You could also just eat the zucchini flowers and there are many recipes online on how to cook zucchini flowers. Tomatoes – rich in the anti-oxidant lycopene which is important for bone health. A study revealed removing lycopene from a diet of postmenopausal women caused an increase in the risk of osteoporosis. Tomatoes are also great for having a healthy heart as they lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Spinach – is an extremely valuable source of vitamins A, B2, C and K as well as having manganese, iron, folate, calcium and potassium. Research has found that eating 300g of spinach everyday will lower the amount of oxygen required to energise the muscles of people exercising by 5%. Spinach also reduces the risk of skin cancer. Overall, vegetables are a necessary part of any diet to keep oneself healthy and prevent the body against cancers and disease. Vegetables contain an array of nutrients and vitamins which will also assist with lowering blood pressure, preventing the development of kidney stones and increasing bone density. Hopefully these reasons will get you kickstarted into eating more of the wonderful things that are known as vegetables.

Living in a colder climate, I find summer to be a wonderful time of year for delicious fresh food. The cost and availability of fresh produce is limited in the winter months and now is the time to enjoy what is in season. We get a variety of nutrients from different foods and changing with the seasons can help you to have variety in taste as well as nutrition throughout the year. Summer fruit options Let’s start with a list of some of the delicious summer fruits you may find at your local farmers market or at your grocer: Blackberries Boysenberries Blueberries Cantaloupe Cherries Mangos Nectarines Peaches Plums Pluots Raspberries Tomatoes Watermelon Selecting the best fresh fruit Buying these summer fruits in season will save you money at the store and offer delicious and nutritious food options. But you may find you struggle with choosing the best of each of the fruits. Here are some tips for choosing these fresh fruits at the store. Berries – Look for blackberries or boysenberries that are shiny and plump. For all berries look at the package, tip it upside down to look for signs of mushy fruit. Once berries start to deteriorate it will quickly spread to the other fruit and may ruin the entire package. When choosing cherries look for fruit free of blemishes. Blueberries are the berry that will be found with a dull/matte finish. Melons – All melons should feel heavy for their size. Cantaloupe will have a fragrant smell, but watermelon will not have a noticeable aroma. When gently pushing on the stem end of a cantaloupe it should have a slight give when it is ready to eat. Nectarines, Peaches, Plums and Pluots – Choose fruits that are heavy in size, have a sweet smell and are free of blemishes. When ripe they should have a slight give when you push gently on the fruit. Mangos – Look for fruit that gives slightly when gently pressed. The color may vary though darker green is most likely not yet ripe. Tomatoes – Look for fruit that is unblemished and red in color. Adding summer fruit to your diet Make it simple – chop up a variety of fruit for a mixed fruit salad or simply choose any of the fruits for a snack or for dessert. Prepare mango salsa for topping on fresh fish or chicken – peel and seed 1 mango and dice, mix with 1 chopped green onion, 2 TB fresh cilantro, 1 TB lemon juice and 1 TB lime juice. Add berries to pancakes, waffles or muffins. Snack on fruit kebabs with diced melon or other fruit you enjoy. Add protein such as diced cheese or meat to make it a more filling snack or a small meal. Mash ½ C blueberries and mix with 1 lb. hamburger for added moisture and nutrition to a hamburger patty. Slice tomatoes on a sandwich or in a salad. Add diced nectarines or peaches to a lettuce or pasta salad. Make a blackberry cobbler. Recipes often contain twice the sugar that is needed for a sweet dessert – cut the added sugar by 1/3 to ½. Prepare fresh fruit jam. Mash 1 lb. very ripe fruit (strawberries or other berries, plums, peaches or nectarines), add 2 TB chia seeds and 2 TB honey or maple syrup. Add it to plain Greek yogurt for a delicious breakfast or snack. Dice plums or pluots in cooked oatmeal, add cinnamon for a flavorful breakfast. If any of these foods have not been a part of your diet in the past, be adventurous and try something new. When choosing good quality, adequately ripe fruit you will find wonderful tastes to enjoy all summer long. Happy summer!

About 3500 years ago, the Israelites were given instructions about foods they should eat and foods they should avoid. These instructions were written in several places in the Bible, including in the book of Leviticus, chapter ll. Any fish you eat should have both fins and scales. Any animal you eat should chew the cud, part the hoof, and be cloven-footed. Two of the most popular foods that most people think of as healthy are catfish and pork. Why would it be written in the Bible that neither of these should be eaten? Were the instructions meant only for the Jews or is it possible that neither catfish or pork is actually good for you? Since when you eat, you are actually eating what your food ate, let’s look at what catfish and pigs eat. WHAT DO CATFISH EAT? Catfish live on the bottom and eat whatever ends up on the bottom of rivers, ponds, and lakes. Their foods include: dead fish, snails, worms, animal feces, aquatic bugs, rotting plant vegetation, minnows, leeches, and carrion from animals that died in the water. They will eat just about anything! The Bible says that the fish should have both fins and scales, such as a bass, for it to be good for food. A catfish does not have scales. Thus, it is not good for food. In addition to the idea of how repulsive it is to eat something that feeds on dead, decaying, nasty things, when it comes to the omega fatty acid content, neither catfish or tilapia is really good for you either. Both have some omega-3 fatty acids and that part is good; however, both have far more omega-6, which is not good. WHAT DO PIGS EAT? Pigs eat both plants and animals. They will eat almost any kind of food, including dead insects, worms, garbage, and dead pigs. They will eat rats, rabbits, carcasses, and their own feces. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are over 100 viruses that come from China to the United States each year through pigs. A majority of the flu viruses we encounter actually comes from the lungs of pigs. Pigs may be infected with toxins that help cause diseases. Pork is the main source of tapeworms and certain bacteria that spread throughout the body and may go undetected for years. The bacteria robs our cells of needed nutrition and can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, acid reflux, fatigue, and depression. A retrovirus lives in all pork cells. It even survives through heat so cooking does not kill it! Thus, when we eat the meat, we put a retrovirus into our body. How bad is a retrovirus? HIV is a retrovirus. Retroviruses have been responsible for causing leukemia. Retroviruses cause tumor growth and certain cancers in animals and humans. They can also be responsible for neurological disorders. God, our creator, created some things that were meant to be eaten, and some things that were not meant to be eaten. Science is still uncovering many of the reasons to consume certain foods, and to ignore others because of the foods being healthy or unhealthy for us. It looks to me that if people paid attention to the Bible’s instructions, they would be much healthier!

Yoga can be undertaken by people of all ages as it helps in the treatment of many body disorders among other benefits. We however don’t in anyway discredit the work of aerobics and athletics in being good for your health but yoga is not as demanding as these two exercises. Take some time to perform some of the bodily movements and postures whose benefits can be said to include retaining fitness as well as preventing diseases. Technology has come to make things easier in the world and yoga training classes can now be accessed online. If you are serious about yoga training, you have no reason to excuse yourself as you can now take yoga online retreats and get the best knowledge and understanding on yoga. Whether you are taking the training for personal benefits or so as to become a yoga instructor, there are various programs online that will enable you get the maximum benefits from yoga. For those who want the training, there are available yoga training classes offered under the best environment no matter the nature. Once you have the certification, you are ready to start your business in any level of yoga as you get trained from the basics of yoga to the advanced yoga. At the end of the training programs, you are guaranteed to get the value of your money as well as time. You won’t at all regret the investment. So as to reap much as a yoga instructor, you need to have the best and competent knowledge on different aspects of yoga. With training in yoga and having that certificate, it’s a good thing to add to your resume and can be of benefit in future. However, you need to understand that by joining yoga training, it doesn’t mean you relax and things will come your way. You must be dedicated to your work as well as enhancing your skills by having some training time with experts. You also have to ensure you have the right teacher for yoga training so as to become a certified yoga instructor. Yoga has been able to withstand criticism and competition from western and machine-based exercises and still retains its place as a cheap physical exercise that keeps the body healthy. A recent study pointed the importance of yoga practicing even in an urban lifestyle. It is seen as a key element of positively affecting an individual’s lifestyle. As a result of all these coupled with the availability of trained teachers, the practice of yoga has been on the rise especially of late. These teachers have the right knowledge for the training and are using it to train more people who want to learn yoga.

People are piling on the pounds and one of the many reasons for this is soda. Whether you indulge in bottles, glasses or cans of liquid, drinking soda is a poor choice if you want to remain slim and healthy. The body requires two forms of nutrients in order to care for itself. These are macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are composed of three energy giving food sources; protein, carbohydrates and fat as well as fibre and water which give little energy in the case of fibre and none in the case of water. Further to macronutrients, the body requires micronutrients in smaller doses; these are the vitamins and minerals we ingest via our food sources. Water is a vital micronutrient as our body is around 70% water. Although water has no nutritional content, our bodies need it for absolutely everything. We cannot survive without water for 1 week but we can live without food for about 1 month; that’s how important water is! It’s responsible for everything from keeping our skin, hair and eyes glowing to keeping our internal body hydrated and helping flush out waste produce. We are supposed to drink around 2 litres of water per day (this translates to around 8 glasses) but many substitute good old fashioned and also calorie free water with soda! It’s obvious why… soda tastes good especially if you aren’t a fan of waters plainer flavour. Unfortunately soda is laden with calories. If you’re drinking a can of soda every day you’re getting around 100-200 calories or even more per can. If you drink 8 sodas a day to substitute your water intake, you’ll have drunk close to or over your daily recommended allowance of calories for one day! Water, as a macronutrient, is healthy and vital for the body but soda has absolutely no nutritional value. Soda literally makes us gain weight. It tastes good but aside from its taste, it does nothing for us at all and one of the worst habits to indulge in for your health and waistline is regularly supping on sodas. Here are a few reasons why sodas are so bad for our bodies: 1. A typical soft drink has around 10 teaspoons of sugar in it. All that sugar is terrible for teeth and also helps the skin to age poorly. The body can’t get much hydration from soda. 2. So much sugar can also cause our blood sugar level to spike. We want to keep our blood sugar levels at an even keel because when it spikes, it can lead to Type 2 Diabetes. 3. Soda can lead to osteoporosis; a condition where the bones become brittle and break in old age. 4. Many sodas, particularly diet substitutes contain aspartame which is surrounded by controversy. Aspartame has been connected to so many health issues; it’s almost a horror story. Everything from brain tumours to seizures has been linked to aspartame! 5. Drinking soda regularly is a short cut to obesity due to the gargantuan amount of empty calories! So what can you do if you’re a soda lover? 1 Drink soda less. Have a can a week instead of every day. 2 Drink flavoured water; add lemon, cucumber or berries.

When you begin a new workout routine choosing the right exercises for a flat belly is vital if you want to shed belly fat and get a flat tummy. A mixture of cardio and toning exercises are needed to develop the six pack abs you want. Here are 5 of the best newbie workouts for a flat belly that can help you trim that flab around your waistline. 1. Walking. While walking is a good exercise for your heart, arms, legs, and glutes, it’s one of the best beginner workouts for a flat belly. One hour of brisk walking can burn up to 240 calories while also toning up your abs. What makes walking a great exercise is the fact that it can fit into your daily routine since you can choose to walk to and from work or when visiting the grocery store instead of driving your car. If you use public transport, get off one or two stops early and walk the rest of the way. 2. Cycling. One hour of cycling can help you to burn up to 1,000 calories. Regular and stationary bikes are both excellent tools for burning calories and toning your abdominal muscles. They engage several muscles in the lower body such as your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and hip flexors. Cycling also works your core muscles as they have to balance and support your upper body as you pedal. It’s also one of the workouts for a flat belly that you can do with your family as you work towards shedding those excess pounds. 3. Swimming. Swimming is a major full body workout that tones all your muscles including your ab muscles. It’s also a very powerful calorie burner. an hour of swimming will burn an average of 667 calories. Swimming is one of the best all round workouts for a flat belly because it makes you work many other parts of your body while exercising your belly. The combination of fat burning and muscle toning is the perfect blend for developing strong, solid, flat abs. 4. Resistance or Strength Training. Resistance or strength training is considered one of the best flat tummy workouts because your muscles will be burning calories even while you’re resting. Resistance training workouts are not just for men as they are effective flat stomach exercises for women too. Women do worry about resistance training as they think that they will develop big bulky muscles. But this won’t happen. The big bulky muscles that male body builders have are due to the male testosterone hormone and a very specific body building training program. 5. Plank. The plank is one of the stationary workouts for a flat belly that tests your endurance while building strength in your shoulders, back, glutes, and abdominals. This exercise will give you rock hard abs since it primarily works the rectus and transverse abdominis muscles.

In a low-carb diet plan, the carbohydrate consumption is restricted to between 5 to 10 percent, such that healthy protein and also fats (Like Coconut Oil) take precedence in one’s eating practices, to be able to remain satisfied also stay clear of food cravings. It remains in keeping that sensation of fullness that people have the ability to prevent the desire for sugary foods, as well as this is a good factor for diabetics to take on a diet plan that is reduced in carbs to manage their problem. Following this type of diet plan protects against extreme usage of carbs, which causes greater degrees of blood sugar level. Diabetic issues is a problem where the physical body is not able to effectively absorb carbohydrate as well as sugar. For a diet plan to operate in support of a diabetic, it needs to be reduced in fat, rich in fiber, as well as had with minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals, and also anti-oxidants. Keeping to the sort of food with reduced glycemic index is likewise crucial. Foods that are allowed in low-carb diet plans are meat, chicken, eggs, cheese, fish, as well as some chosen veggies. Although some resources claim that to remove carbs entirely is not suggested for diabetics, as carbs in the diet plan are important, due to the fact that they act as the primary source of power as well as nutrients within our physical bodies. In a diabetic’s diet plan, carbs in too high quantities could be opposed, yet authorities suggest an everyday dose of not less than 130 grams. On the other hand, researches have actually revealed that the low-carb diet plan induced no unfavorable results on the levels of insulin, sugar, blood stress or cholesterol. It is additionally rewarding to keep in mind that people could change a diet plan saying his/her certain demands. Here, prior to adhering to any type of diet plan, make certain to get in touch with your doctor making certain you will certainly be getting all the best nutrients that will certainly aid you to manage your problem. Doing this will certainly help aid you to identify parts of the program that you maybe change for a better eating habit. The impacts of restricting the quantity of carbs in your diet plan are shown as loss of weight as a result of a lower calorie consumption, or the effective upkeep of your optimal weight. Keep in mind that with weight-loss, the physical body’s blood glucose as well as insulin degrees normally boost. Also merely a 10 percent weight-loss is a significant renovation in the direction of remaining in far better control of diabetic issues. When weight loss is your objective and getting into much better health and wellness makes your problem much more acceptable, after that a very carefully prepared diet plan is ideal coupled with a workout plan that is very easy s to comply with. Daily walks as well as a number of load repetitions with barbells excel low-impact workouts you could start. Normal a workout does not just assist battle with diabetic issues; it likewise adds a feeling of wellness that helps you keep the best perspective to living a much healthier life permanently. The benefits of Coconut oil… Coconut oil is basically a free fatty acid. It is a medium length compound. What that means is it is used by the body a fuel and not stored as fat in the tissues. 1 Tbs (tablespoon) of coconut oil contains 120 calories. That’s as much as 8 tsp (teaspoons) of sugar. The difference is that the sugar is stored as fat. If you are looking for a good oil for cooking or baking or weight loss. Look no further than Coconut Oil. If you want to weigh 125 pounds. You need to maintain 1875 calories a day. Any more you gain weight. Any Less you lose weight. When using coconut oil DO NOT count the calories into your daily intake. They are FREE calories. Long length fatty acids like olive oil, corn oil and even lard is much harder for the body to digest. The calories that are not burned by the body is stored as fat.

I want to let you know about the most important part of a fitness diet: protein. Protein can get expensive depending on where you buy and what you buy. There are different types of protein. The four main types are: low carbohydrate/low calorie, whey, high carbohydrate mass gainer, and casein. I will go into detail about these four and give you the pros and cons of each protein. Before I do that, I need to let you know the purpose of the four different kinds. A low calorie/low carbohydrate protein is for people who want to become leaner and lose body fat while getting fit. The whey protein is the most natural protein, it will have somewhere between 20-40 carbohydrates and will help you gain weight, but very slowly. A mass gainer will help you gain weight quicker. A lot of carbohydrates and a high protein powder will not only give you a large amount of protein, it will also give you a lot of carbohydrate to help the body grow. The last protein is casein, which is a slow digesting protein. This protein is perfect before bed since your body is going to be non-active for a longer period at a time. Now that we know what the purpose of each protein is, I will give you the pros and cons to each one as well as the one I recommend. Low Carbohydrate/ Low Calorie Pros: · Easy intake of protein to help you gain lean muscle while also losing body fat · Very cheap ($20-$40 for a 2 pound container) · You don’t take a lot at once so it is easier to consume · Larger assortment of flavors Cons: · Not very many good brands of this kind of protein · Not a good protein for people trying to gain or maintain weight Whey Protein Pros: · This protein will help you gain weight slowly, but surely · All natural protein (no creatine embedded in it) · The price is very cheap (2 pound container for $30) · There are a lot of different flavors to please anyone’s needs Cons: · Not a good protein for anyone trying to gain weight quickly · Not very many good brands for this protein Mass Gainer Pros: · A lot of calories · A lot of carbohydrates · There are a lot of brands for mass gainers · More and more flavors are being introduced · Easily take in a massive amount of protein in one sitting Cons: · This protein is expensive · Not a good protein for people that do not want to gain weight · Can be considered “unnatural” (creatine is usually embedded in the protein Casein Pros: · Great when large periods of non-activity is upcoming (i.e. sleeping) · There are a lot of flavors to fulfill everyone’s wants and needs Cons: · Very hard to mix and intake (some brands has a pudding like texture · Not a very good tasting protein · Small amount of calories · Small amount of carbohydrates · Moderate amount of protein All in all, depending on your fitness or lifestyle goal, there are many different proteins that would suit you. I have tried to give you my recommendations and reviews of different proteins. There are links under each recommendation so you can easily follow those links and do some more research yourself. AS you can tell, I prefer bodybuilding.com. They buy their products in bulk volumes, so their products are usually cheaper than most nutrition stores, like Complete Nutrition and GNC. I would recommend that you try to shy away from those stores because they are making money off commission, so they usually try to push their brands more and they tell you what you want to hear. I hope this helps you on your journey to become whoever you want to become, whether that be a healthy parent or a professional bodybuilder/power lifter.